Editor's Note

The Charge

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, starring the entire Nelson
family…

Opening Statement

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet was a television mainstay on ABC
for an incredible 14 seasons and 435 episodes. Starring the Nelson family
(father Ozzie, mother Harriet, and sons David and Ricky) as fictionalized
versions of themselves, the show predated both reality programming and other
shows dealing with trivial subjects (notably Seinfeld) by several
decades. Each episode in The Best of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
contains some mild, inoffensive situation that one or multiple members of the
Nelson family get into that leads to mild, inoffensive comedy. While perhaps not
to some modern viewers' tastes, there are still plenty out there who will likely
enjoy the Nelsons' brand of humor.

Facts of the Case

For The Best of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Shout! Factory
has compiled 24 episodes representing nearly every season of the show. As the
show progressed, the actors grew up, meaning their characters grew up along with
them; Ricky goes from "irrepressible" youngster (as he is called
during the early season title sequences) to bona fide pop star, and Dave would
step behind the camera in later seasons as a director. In addition, both Dave
and Ricky got married during the show's run, and their real-life wives became a
part of the show.

The episodes on The Best of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet were
broadcast between October 24, 1952 and March 26, 1966, and are distributed
across the four disc set as follows. (* denotes episode commentary with David
Nelson and Sam Nelson):

Disc Three • "The Circus" *
• "His Brother's Girl" • "Rick Counts
the Ballots"—Ricky sings "You Are the Only One" (duet with
Linda Bennet) and "I'm Not Afraid" • "The
Newlyweds Get Settled" • "The Fraternity Rents Out a
Room" • "Making Wally Study"

Disc Four • "Publicity for the Fraternity"
* • "The Swami" • "Rick and
Kris Go to the Mountains" • "The
Ballerina"—Ricky sings "Just a Little Bit Sweet"
• "The Prowler" • "The Game
Room"

The Evidence

To be honest, I was half-dreading watching The Best of The Adventures of
Ozzie and Harriet as it came in the mail two weeks ago. I had requested the
set, true, but in the back of my mind a voice kept saying, "Have fun
watching this corny, dated T.V. show." But when I cracked open the set and
began watching the episodes I soon discovered, to my surprise, that while there
are certainly parts of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet that are corny
and dated, there is a lot of humor to be found as well.

Part of what makes The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet undeniably
fascinating (at least to me) is that it was a sitcom about a family starring a
real family. Decades before family-based reality programming such as The
Osbournes and Hogan Knows Best, the Nelsons were bringing their own
version of (scripted) reality to viewers each week. Even when sons Dave and
Ricky each got married, writer-star-director-producer Ozzie had the wives (June
Blair and Kris Harmon) come on the show as themselves. And while I have no idea
how the four Nelsons got along when the cameras weren't rolling, on the show,
there is, unsurprisingly, a breezy, natural credibility to the performances of
the family. Ozzie and Harriet, in particular, have great comedic chemistry (no
doubt honed prior to their TV debut by their radio broadcasts, one of which is
included in this set), with Ozzie being the good-natured goof and Harriet the
poised, sharp housewife always ready with a well-intended comic barb. Similarly,
the boys benefit from their real-life connection as brothers, as their low-key
rapport registers strongly from episode to episode, whether it's little Ricky
wheedling Dave into fixing his bike in "The Fall Guy," or an older
Dave worried about Ricky's latest girlfriend having feelings for Dave in
"His Brother's Girl" (which, interestingly, features June as the
titular girl, who is called Jane).

Of the four Nelsons, despite my admiration for Ricky's music, I found myself
enjoying the episodes prominently featuring Ozzie the best, and two of my
favorite episodes from this set revolve around him: "Captain Salty and the
Submarine" and "Tutti Frutti Ice Cream." The first involves Ozzie
ordering a toy submarine from a children's television program, which proves
somewhat awkward for Oz when he wins a bicycle and has to appear on the show to
claim it. The second is one of the most Seinfeldesque episodes on the
set, detailing Ozzie's single-minded quest for the titular dessert he enjoyed as
a youth. This episode has a hilarious dream sequence where Ozzie is transported
back to an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, where Dave and Ricky work behind the
counter and Harriet, dressed as a flapper, sings a song and dances the
Charleston. The episode is so darn effective at displaying the obsession of the
characters (not just Ozzie) for getting tutti frutti ice cream that I caught
myself checking the ice cream section of the local supermarket the other day to
see if it had some.

But Ozzie did share the comedic wealth, as this set demonstrates (although,
if this set is any indication, he didn't tend to give Harriet the main storyline
too often). On "Ricky, the Drummer," Ricky gets to play the drums
(surprise!) for a swing band during a concert, and also performs the Fats Domino
number "I'm Walkin'" (which was Ricky's first single). No dummy, Ozzie
appears to have worked hard to get Ricky's numbers into episodes of the show,
and there are several episodes on this set containing musical performances,
including the song "Cindy," which Ricky sang with Dean Martin and
Walter Brennan in the classic Western Rio
Bravo. With this set, the viewer can trace the evolution of Ricky not only
as an actor but a performer as well, moving from the immobile singer of
"I'm Walkin'" to the somewhat more dynamic musician performing
"Just a Little Bit Sweet." But even when Ricky isn't singing on the
show, he's still entertaining. In "Rick and Kris Go to the Mountains,"
Ricky gets himself into a jam that one can imagine Ozzie getting into at Ricky's
age when he misleads Kris into believing he's taking her on a weekend getaway,
when he's really going out with his frat buddies to play cards. And on
"Ricky's Riding Lesson," he feigns inexperience at horseback riding to
gain the attentions of a comely instructor.

Similarly, Dave gets the spotlight at times as well. In "David, the Law
Clerk," the combined efforts of the family nearly cost Dave a job working
for a lawyer in town. And on one of the set's sweetest episodes, "The
Newlyweds Get Settled," the story shifts from being about Ozzie and Harriet
fixing up Dave and June's apartment as a surprise to Dave and June trying to
enjoy their first night together in their new home. Nothing goes right for poor
June, who can't cook a proper dinner for them to eat, so they end up enjoying a
romantic, candlelit meal of peas and ginger ale.

Obviously, not everyone watching this show today will find it funny. Despite
the family playing themselves, the show isn't exactly realistic (the fact that
Ozzie isn't given a job and thus is always hanging around the house is a prime
example), but overall, I was surprised by how well some of the episodes hold up.
I particularly found "A Ball of Tinfoil" clever and relevant. In it,
Ozzie attempts to get rid of some household junk but, through a series of
convoluted junk swapping with his neighbors, ends up with everything he tried to
throw out piled back in his garage. Other episodes work for their farcical
elements, like "The Prowler," a Dave and Ricky-less episode where a
little white lie by Ozzie and Harriet leads to an enormous amount of comedic
complications for the couple. And the afore-mentioned "Tutti Frutti Ice
Cream" is a great piece of flat-out absurd comedy.

Part of what makes The Best of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
interesting is that the viewer sees the progression of the characters happen
quickly, and it's a testament to Ozzie and his writers' talents that the show is
able to make a smooth transition as the cast gets older. In addition, the
writers also created good episodes (again, if this set is any indication) even
when all of the characters were not present.

Shout! Factory's set of The Best of the Adventures of Ozzie and
Harriet is generally solid in the video and audio departments. The image
quality isn't always what it necessarily could be, but it's not too shabby
either. Audio seems to be on par with a show of its time. In terms of extras,
Shout! Factory has included a variety of special features. First off, there is
commentary on four episodes with Dave, who is joined by Ricky's youngest son,
Sam Nelson. Dave and Sam have a nice rapport, and it's great to hear Dave
reminisce about a show for which he clearly still has warm memories. There is
one commentary on each disc of the set. On Disc One, there is also a short
documentary called "The Story of Ozzie and Harriet" that provides
interesting information on Ozzie and Harriet's early life but inexplicably ends
upon mentioning the launching of the T.V. show. In addition, an episode of
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio program is included as an
audio-only extra. On Disc Two, the sole extra is a 1937 short silent film called
"Doing Right by David," featuring Ozzie and baby Dave. On Disc Three,
there is a short promotional clip from Ozzie for the episode "The
Circus" (included on the same disc), where Dave and Ricky perform their own
trapeze stunts. Also included is a short home movie of Dave and Ricky doing
trapeze tricks, with commentary by Dave. On Disc Four, the only extra is a pair
of 10-question trivia quizzes, one about Ozzie and Harriet and one about Ricky
and Dave. If you get all the questions right, you unlock a short video bonus
(one for each quiz). The bonus videos aren't all that exciting, but the quizzes
are worth taking because every time you get a question right, there's a
text-only bit of trivia included (like why Ozzie decided not to give his
character a profession on the show). In addition, all four discs provide direct
access to Ricky's musical numbers. All in all, this is a good, if not great,
collection of extras. The documentary featurette, however, is rather
disappointing for its utter lack of comprehensiveness.

Note: This set has been available for over a year, so this has already been
discussed in other reviews, but these episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and
Harriet have been edited down from their original broadcast versions. The
episodes included here generally run about 21-22 minutes. I don't know how long
they are supposed to be, but as I can't really say I'm an Ozzie and
Harriet purist, I can't really complain.

Closing Statement

For fans of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, the make-or-break
decision as to whether to buy this set will be whether you mind that the
episodes are not presented in their original broadcast form. If you can get past
that, you'll find a largely enjoyable collection of classic television.

The Verdict

Not guilty.

Give us your feedback!

Did we give The Best Of The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet a fair trial? yes / no

What's "fair"? Whether positive or negative, our reviews should be unbiased, informative, and critique the material on its own merits.

Distinguishing Marks

• Episode commentaries with David Nelson and Sam Nelson
• "The Story of Ozzie and Harriet"
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio show (audio only)
• Short film "Doing Right by David"
• "The Circus" promo episode
• Home Movies: Practicing the Trapeze
• Ozzie and Harriet trivia quiz
• David and Ricky trivia quiz
• Direct access to Ricky Nelson musical numbers